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US "convinced" JP, DE, FR, UK to appreciate relative to USD during Plaza Accords in 80s, those countries still got to sell cars/strategic hightech in US, just l
by maxglute 2y ago
US "convinced" JP, DE, FR, UK to appreciate relative to USD during Plaza Accords in 80s, those countries still got to sell cars/strategic hightech in US, just less of it. US has less leverage to "convince" PRC who has more autonomy to set their dollar peg. US unlikely to allow PRC tech regardless... sanctions/export control and all. PRC fine with devalueing alone with US to keep chipping away at RoW shares. Also consider this means PRC GDP increasing by 20-50% nominal, i.e. surpassing US band, not just on PPP terms but absolute terms.
- surgical_fire 2y agoAs you said, the players involved are different, but also the context of 2020's is much different than that of the 80's. In the late 80's you had a crumbling USSR, a bunch of secondary markets slowly opening up to global trade, and a clear sole economic superpower prevailing. Now things are a lot less clear. The US is speakig of tariffs (which is essentially restricting themselves from a lot of global trade) while China is more than willing to make trade deals left and right. They already have a large, educated, and skillful workforce. Sanctions/Export control work to a point, presuming they can't build up their own capabilities and do their own agreements with other countries. It is something you can do well against minor players, not as well against other powerhouses.